Theme Of Savagery In William Golding's 'Lord Of The Flies'

n the Lord of The Flies, William Golding represents the characters' descent from civilization to savagery through symbolism. One of the ways it is represented is fear, and its evolution as its source ceases to be external factors such as nature and becomes people, suggesting all the boys have a potential for evil within them. Becoming more savage and letting go of their civilized morals, the boys oppress one another, resulting in many of them becoming submissive and scared.
In Chapter 3, the little ones and Jack's hunters fear a snake-beast, which shows their unease of living in a wild place and their belief that evil was something else than themselves. Due to the fact they are still strongly bonded to their civilized home and lifestyle, there was nothing to be feared by them but the natural dangers of the island. An evidence for this can be found on page 52, "'Well, they're frightened. […] "As if, said Simon, 'The beastie, or the snake thing, was real'". Shortly after they are stranded on the
This aspect of the book reflects Golding's belief that every man has an immense potential for evil as well as his experiences during the World War II as a Navy officer when he discovered the catastrophe British men, who were considered purely good people, were capable of making. He believed all humans could be easily corrupted, contradicting the British mindset at the time that evil lies within something else or was inherited from a supernatural being or another nation. Having in mind men are the real beasts of the world and should be feared accordingly, he wrote the novel developing the characters' fear of one another as some of them let their inner potential for cruelty out, implying even civilized men can become